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DayBreaks for 1/31/2019:Forgiven and Restored

From the DayBreaks archive, 2009:

Is there any greater need of the human race than forgiveness? Freedom from the guilt and shame of the past, from what we have done and what we have been? People all over the world are shattered and broken because they have never found peace in their hearts and lives. Their past haunts them. Perhaps no one put it as profoundly as Marghanita Laski, a humanist author, who was on television shortly before she died. In one of the most shocking statements made on network television, Ms. Laski said, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.”

But sometimes, even Christians don’t really understand, accept or believe their forgiveness. Why? Because we can’t forget what we’ve done. Consider the stories of two men who went rampaging through museums and who severely damaged great works of art. In one case, it was Rembrandt’s painting “Nightwatch”. In the other, it was Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Pieta in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. What did the curators of the museums do with these great works of art that had been horribly damaged? Did they throw them out and forget about them, consigning them to the dumpster? No way! Instead, they got the best experts they could find and with the most painstaking effort, did all they could to restore the treasures.

You see, that is exactly what God does with us. We go, from time to time, on sin rampages. By our sin, we mar the beautiful artwork that is us – for we are, after all, made in God’s very own image, and what could be more beautiful than that? The “Curator” has a choice – to trash us or repair us. And He chose and chooses to repair us. How does He do it? He gets the best expert available – Jesus! But here’s the best news of all: not only does He restore us, but He makes us better than we ever were before – because when we accept Christ’s atonement by faith – God credits us with Christ’s righteousness! Romans 4:22-25 says it this way: This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness– for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

The righteousness that God credits to our account is far greater than any righteousness we have ever had. God takes the broken and marred works of art that are the men and women of His creation, forgives and repairs. His repair work is beyond perfect – for He doesn’t just restore us to our human condition, but makes us fit to be heavenly creatures, to live in His presence and to see Him face to face.

Struggling with your past? If you are a believer – don’t. As far as God is concerned, you don’t have a past – only a glorious future.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord God, for the righteousness You have credited to us, for the forgiveness that gives us the hope and strength to press onward to the glorious future You have prepared for us! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DayBreaks for 8/24/17: On Rough Water #3

They say that the best way to tell if someone has learned anything is whether or not there has been a change in behavior. I’ve written twice recently about Peter and his adventures in water walking. And yesterday, I suggested that perhaps what Jesus meant when he said “O, you of little faith” to Peter wasn’t so much about Jesus power to keep Peter walking on the water (after all, Peter did cry out to a man walking on the water to save him!), but about whether Jesus might be willing to save a man who started sinking.

So, did Peter learn from this episode? I think he did. Consider:

FIRST: remember that Peter was the one who asked the Lord to invite him to walk on the water in the first place. Perhaps the last instance where Peter and Jesus interacted at the lake was after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, after the denial. Peter and the disciples had left Jerusalem and returned to Galilee as Jesus had instructed them…and they then went fishing. Early one morning as they were out on their boats, they witnessed someone walking on the shore who tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they take in a huge haul of fish. Jesus, we’re told, was on the shore cooking fish. As soon as Peter recognized it was Jesus, he didn’t shout out to Jesus to invite him to walk on the water to the shore. I think that this is a sign that he had learned some things about himself and his weaknesses.

SECOND: in the instance during the storm, Peter asked Jesus to invite him to come to him on the water. Not this time, however. Peter jumped right in and swam to shore. What that tells me is that Peter had learned something about the love that Jesus had for him…and he couldn’t wait to get to Jesus. Peter got wet the second time, but he was so eager to get to Jesus that he got wet of his own volition the second time.

Why did Peter now trust in the Lord’s love? After all, the denial had been sandwiched in between the walking on the water and jumping in to swim to Jesus. You’d think that if Peter had doubted Jesus’ love the first time, he’d surely doubt it after the denial. But he doesn’t appear to doubted at all. Why? What had changed? The crucifixion…the crucifixion changed everything. No one who stood there that day who had the slightest inkling of what was going on could ever doubt God’s love.

We who are alive today couldn’t stand on Golgotha the day Jesus died so we could see with our eyes the length and breadth of Jesus love. We can only see it through eyes of faith. Even though he stood far off, Peter saw it firsthand. And he never doubted Jesus’ love again. Neither should we.

PRAYER: Jesus, I wonder how much more we’d understand your love if we’d stood on Calvary’s hill as you died. Help us to see it with the eyes of our souls so we will leap into the water and swim to you rather than fear rejection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

NOTE: As I’ve just recently started a new job/ministry and I’ve got lots to learn. That’s why you’re seeing so many “re-posts” of DayBreaks. I hope to get back to writing some new ones soon! Thanks for your understanding! – Galen

From the DayBreaks archive dated 01/06/03:

John 21:15-17 – “15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

“An extraordinary transaction takes place between Jesus and Peter on the Tiberian seashore. The most plaintive words ever spoken take the form of a heart-stopping question: ‘Do you love me?’ As we lay aside our fuzzy distractions and actively listen, we hear the suffering cry of a GOD NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE. What is going on here? No deity of any world religion has ever condescended to inquire how we feel about that god. The pagan gods fired thunderbolts to remind peons who was in charge. The Rabbi in whom infinity dwells asks if we care about him. The Jesus who died a bloody, God-forsaken death that we might live, is asking if we love him!…The vulnerability of God in permitting Himself to be affected by our response, the heartbreak of Jesus as he wept over Jerusalem for not receiving him, are utterly astounding. Christianity consists primarily not in what we do for God but in what God does for us – the great, wondrous things that God dreamed up and achieved for us in Christ Jesus. When God comes streaming into our lives in the power of His Word, all He asks is that we be stunned and surprised, let our mouths hang open, and begin to breathe deeply.” – Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child

What strikes you about this passage? Try to put yourself in Peter’s spot for just a second. It is quite possible that this is only the second time he saw Jesus after his resurrection. The first time was in an upper room where Jesus appeared out of nowhere and everyone was stunned. Remember the last time before that when Peter saw Jesus? Peter was denying him vociferously. Now, confronted by the risen Lord on the Tiberian seashore, it is shocking to me that it is Jesus who asks the question, “Do you love me?” If I were Peter, I think I’d have been the one asking the question: “Lord, do you love ME?” I would have wondered if he could still love me after I’d failed him so publicly as Peter did.

But it was the Lord asking, not Peter. Why? Because Peter didn’t need to ask – Peter already knew that Jesus loved him, failures, warts and all. That’s the kind of understanding that Jesus wants all his followers to have. And so, it is the Lord who is vulnerable, asking mankind the simple, but pleading question that we all must answer: “Do you love me?”

Copyright 2003 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

PRAYER: Thanks, Jesus, for never leaving us in the lurch wondering whether or not you love us!! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2013 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

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